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AUSTIN — Texas NAACP officials said the number of reports of voter intimidation have gone up since the 2008 election and are offering suggestions to combat it.

State NAACP President Gary Bledsoe outlined the laws some voters may be unaware of or find confusing, such as the language on the back of the voter registration certificate, which reads that the 2011 Texas Legislature passed a law requiring photo identification. While true, a federal court in August blocked enforcement of the law after registration cards were sent out.

“Bad things can happen when you have people deputizing themselves to enforce the law because they believe the misinformation about people voting when they should not,” Bledsoe said.

Henderson resident Lenecia Muckleroy

Another problem he said people may run into is poll officials failing to uphold election codes, which Henderson resident Lenecia Muckleroy alleged she experienced when she voted.

Muckleroy said a man inside the polling location audibly made racial slurs in reference to the president and was not asked to stop or lower his voice.

“I wasn’t expecting that because I’ve voted so many times before,” Muckleroy said. “It’s like this election is bringing out what’s deep down in people.”

NAACP legal redress chair Robert Notzon said speaking out in favor or against a candidate in a polling location is considered electioneering, a criminal offensive, and election officials should have addressed the man.

“If it just comes down to training, that’s great, let’s get the training, but we think more is going on,” Notzon said.

Bledsoe referenced a Fort Worth resident who went to vote and was confronted by a woman without a name tag outside a polling location. She allegedly demanded that voters allow her to check their ID’s. The voter walked around her and went inside to vote without being stopped.

“Even though we are not a swing state, the right to vote is just important in Texas as it is across the U.S.,” said Luis Figueroa, a staff attorney with MALDEF.

Dallas Morning News reporter Wayne Slater recently wrote about his experience trying to vote at the polls in Williamson County using his current utility bill, an accepted form of identification. He was told by the poll supervisor that a voter registration card or driver’s license was preferred.

A list of acceptable forms of identification and more information can be found at the Secretary of State’s website.